Al-Rayyan, Matin Varamin in finals of Asian Club Championship for ticket to FIVB Men's Club Championship

Vahid Seyed Abassi of Iran spikes against blocking from Chunlong Liang of China

Manila, Philippines, April 15, 2014 – Qatar’s Al-Rayyan
and Iran’s Matin Varamin defeated their opponents Kazakhstan’s Kondensat-Zhaikmunay
and Baic Motor of China, respectively, at the semifinals of the PLDT Home Fibr
2014 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship at the Mall of Asia Arena on
Tuesday.

Al-Rayyan and Matin Varamin remain undefeated in the
competition – leaving the final competition day to determine the best Asain
club team and receive the ticket to the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World
Championship, and force a repeat match-up of last year’s finals.

The losing semifinals Baic Motor of China and
Kazakhstan’s Kondensat-Zhaikmunay will play for the bronze medal Wednesday.

Matin
Varamin vs. Baic Motor

Last year’s winner Iran, displayed promising
performance from Matin Varamin although some of its key athletes are playing
ill. The Iranians managed to control the tough Chinese side, Baic Motor in
straight sets 3-0 (27-25, 25-23 and 25-20).

Seyed Mohammad Mousavi E. took charge and used his
experience to boost the game for his team-mates. Mousavi scored 16 points for
Matin Varamin and lifted his team for another finals appearance.

Mojtaba Mirzajanpour also poured 13 hits for Matin
Varamin, which arranged a gold medal match with Al-Rayyan of Qatar for the
second straight time.

"I was worried about my team because of their
condition,” said Matin Varamin's Italian coach Daniele Bagnoli. “They are not
physically 100 percent. It's a tough match against China, and the first two
sets could have gone the other way, but we held on."

Belgian-Italian Wout Wijsmans and Wang Chen finished 14
points each in a losing effort for Baic Motor, while Canadian Frederic Winters
had 12 hits.

Al-Rayyan
vs. Kondensat-Zhaikmunay

In the other semifinal, Al-Rayyan struck Kazakhstan’s
Kondensat-Zhaikmunay in straight sets 3-0 (25-22, 25-22 and 25-19) with the
help of Cuban-born Cala Gerardo Yosleyder and Italian Cristian Savani.

Cuban-born Cala Gerardo Yosleyder delivered 16 points,
highlighted with three aces, for Al-Rayyan, who pounced on their rivals from
all angles for their third straight finals appearance.

Veteran Olympian Cristian Savani provided the needed
support with 14 hits, even as Mohamed Alhachdadi chipped in 13 points.

"It's a difficult game for us, but I think our
experience gave us the edge against Kazakhstan," said Al-Rayyan coach Igor
Arbutina. "It also helped that we have two experienced players in Cala
(Yosleyder) and (Cristian) Savani, because they solved some of the different
situations.”

In the play-off
matches, Iraq's South Gas Club Sports reasserted its mastery over
Philippines' PLDT HOME TVolution with a straight set 3-0 (25-17, 25-21 and
25-21) victory, while Chinese Taipei also overpowered a weary Zahraa Al Minaa
of Lebanon in straight sets 3-0 (25-12, 25-23 and 25-17).

South Gas Club Sports' triumph set them a battle for
fifth to sixth places, with Chinese Taipei on Wednesday. The Filipinos' loss,
meanwhile, further relegated them to a battle for seventh to eighth places with
Zahraa Al Minaa of Lebanon.

The Iraqi squad, who ruled the PLDT Home TVolution team
in the preliminaries, came out smoking on all ends, as the win kept their bid
alive to remain in the top eight teams in the club championship.

In the other match for fifth to eighth, Wang Ming-Chun
spearheaded the Chinese Taipei team with 15 kills and three aces to finish with
18 points, even as Huang Chien-Feng contributed 12 hits as they arrange a duel
for fifth to sixth places with South Gas Club Sports of Iraq on Wednesday.

Japan’s Oita Miyoshi Weisse Adler finished in 13th
place who were heavily challenged by the raw talents of Papua New Guinea’s Amoa
NCD. However, Oita Miyoshi Weisse Adler of Japan managed to capits run with a
3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-20 and 25-15) triumph over Amoa NCD of Papua New Guinea,
which bowed out at 14th place

Hong Kong’s Green Dragon wrapped up its campaign with a
3-1 (25-23, 25-16, 23-25 and 25-17) victory over Altain Bars of Mongolia to
finish at 15th place, while Mongolia’s Altain Bars wound up last in
the 16-nation tournament even as it tried to salvage a win with three players
finishing in double figures.